


firelight

by wildlings (candybank)



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: M/M, sappy avatar au uwu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 19:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14654925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candybank/pseuds/wildlings
Summary: "the people of the fire nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want."





	1. the grass is greener on this side

they fall in love somewhere between ink brushes, and silver strings, and hands tapped with wooden sticks. and zhengting can never seem to get etiquette right.

"why is it so difficult for you?" xukun chuckles softly, watching the pout on his lips.

"it's _boring_ , kunkun," zhengting whines, collapsing back onto the grass, "hands this way, bow that way." he sticks his tongue out in disgust. "who _cares_? i won't be attending dinner parties as a _guest_ , anyway."

"about that..."

"hm?" zhengting looks up at him, eyes curious although he already knows what xukun is about to say. they're entering their twenties now, after all, and xukun was only twelve when he started wanting to talk about their future. puppy love and childhood dreams all too concrete for him. nothing seems too far away to grasp for the fire prince, zhengting has always guessed. where others hope, xukun _does_. where others pine, xukun _takes_. where others plan, he takes action.

"won't you consider staying?" xukun starts as he has a hundred times before, "in the palace. work for the fire nation as an ambassador. you've always been the best at history and relations.

or—or, don't work at all! and just stay with me."

the only reason zhengting doesn't fly away and disappear into the sun is because xukun leans in for a kiss, and he's always all too compelled to kiss back.

"you know i don't want to do that," zhengting says, the taste of xukun in his mouth making the words just that much more bitter.

xukun bites his lip so he won't frown, and he looks at the ground when he nods.

"okay..." he sulks quietly.

zhengting laughs, tilting his face up by his chin. "you can come visit me," zhengting says helpfully, "watch my shows. i found this great traveling carnival that i want to join—"

" _traveling_ carnival," xukun stares.

zhengting places a kiss on his lips. "you know i want to see the world." he leans back on his arms and looks up at the sky.

"stuck here," he wonders outloud, as if it's nothing he can imagine, "doing the same thing every single day. drinking the same dragonfruit wines and eating the same fireberry puff tarts." zhengting pauses pensively, shaking his head and laughing. "it's not for me, xukun.

besides," his gaze wanders to the boy beside him, tracing the outline of his big brown-gold eyes, the curve of his lips, the rich red of his clothes. he chuckles to himself almost sadly. "not like you'll marry an _ambassador_ , anyway. you'll be running off into the sunset with a pretty earth princess or some other, of course.

doesn't your dad want to fix that inner circle fiasco with ba sing se?"

xukun looks at the ground because he can't say no. he stares at zhengting's hand, at the pale skin of his arms; dipping his head to kiss what he sees.

zhengting laughs, diving deep into a kiss. holding xukun's sad face between hot palms and quit breaths.

"it's fine, kunkun," he says softly, "you'll always be my prince."


	2. home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> familiar faces, familiar places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> play home ii by dotan :')

"knock knock," comes a voice from the curtains of the tent. from the mirror, through paint and glitter, zhengting sees him.

"yanchen!" he gasps, mask falling to the floor with how fast he runs from his vanity to his friend.

zhengting throws his arms around him, almost difficult to do with how much bigger and taller his clothes make him seem.

and yanchen, so happy to see his friend after years and years apart. he chuckles and hugs him back.

"what are you doing here?" zhengting asks, bewildered in the middle of a populated dessert.

"i'm with a unit," answers yanchen, "we decided to camp for the night on our way back. someone saw a flyer for tonight's show and i saw your face painted on it. so, here i am."

zhengting laughs delightedly, dragging yanchen to the couch. so caught up in his excitement that it registers late:

"you're going back..." he trails off.

"to the capital, yeah," yanchen nods. "we finished our mission.

and dad's birthday is coming up."

"oh," zhengting lifts his chin up to smile, "how is he?"

"better than ever," yanchen replies, "still hasn't given up his seat in the war room, of course."

zhengting chuckles. "bet you're itching to get a seat, huh."

"he actually invited me to a meeting last month," yanchen grins happily, "it was... everything i expected. and xukun, he—" catching zhengting's stare, he stops in the middle of his sentence.

"oh, i'm sorry, 'ting. is it—"

"no, it's fine," zhengting pulls his legs up to cross them, "tell me everything."

 

♦♦♦

 

when zhengting wakes up, it's dark. a familiar breeze whispers nighttime onto his skin, floating it from the open window and rustling the lace  curtains.

he sits up awake, and squints through the darkness to see a big wooden door, untouched furniture, pretty vases, red silk sheets.

heart beginning to run, he gets out of bed to look out the window.

and he sees a city he has seen far too often. the fire nation capital, aglow with the soft yellows of a late night. most parts asleep, some parts awake. a party in one street, houses asleep in the other. and he has only seen it this clearly from one place.

the door clicks shut suddenly. zhengting jumps, head snapping to see—seeing nothing.

and when he tries to open the door, the lock doesn't budge.

a safe panic creeping onto his skin, he sits back down on the bed and stares at the door until it opens moments later.

"...  _chengcheng_?"


	3. hearth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zhengting wonders how long he has been gone for things to be this different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keep playing home ii by dotan mwa

chengcheng greets him with a bright smile, all flaming red hair and perfect teeth, and taller than him.

zhengting wonders if he has really been gone _that_ long. last time he saw him, chengcheng was a head shorter than him with crooked teeth and dark hair that looked as if it had been cut with a bowl.

"zheng-ge!" he walks in, all happy and signature red silk robe of royals. and zhengting doesn't say anything about it: how it confirms the rumors he had heard, that the fan family's estate was burned down by terrorists, and the royal family, their closest relatives, had taken in the surviving children.

more a political move than one of compassion, most argued, for the firelord's wife had run away. and they had only one son.

"chengcheng..." zhengting, speechless. he returns the big hug that chengcheng wraps him in.

"how have you been? _where_ have you been?" chengcheng asks, eyes bright. "i mean," he laughs, signaling for someone to come in, "i know where you've been, i just." he pauses in the middle of his sentence to tell a palace maid to bring food. she nods and scurries away, and zhengting has to wonder, yet again, just how long he has been gone. "i missed you!"

"... where am i, cheng?"

"oh! oh, you're at the palace," answers chengcheng calmly, sitting on the edge of the bed beside zhengting. tightening the knot around his waist and crossing his legs. "don't you recognize the guest room anymore?"

"why... am i here, chengcheng...?" zhengting asks further, trying to remember the last thing he can remember. and all he can remember is sitting on his couch with yanchen, talking about nothing. "where's yanchen?"

"probably resting at his home," chengcheng answers, barely getting another word in before zhengting puts the puzzle together. "he was sent on a very long mission and h—"

"did... did you have me _kidnapped_?"

"oh, whoa... that's a big word, ge," chengcheng's eyes grow wide. "... it's not kidnapping if your owner knows, right?"

"my ' _owner_ '?"

"... the carnival master...? under the law, all performers and animals on display at a carnival are technically the master's property..." chengcheng talks as if he's reciting off of a law manual.

and zhengting knows this, but he still feels wildly bewildered by too many things at once. being taken from his home, being taken by yanchen, being brought to the capital, and chengcheng looking as different as he does. speaking as if he's—

"i went into law," chengcheng smiles proudly, "it's been interesting—"

"fan chengcheng, why am i here?" zhengting repeats firmly.

and chengcheng stares at him for a moment before taking a breath. "can we talk about this in the morning? with everyone?"

"' _everyone_ '?"

"well, this wasn't my idea, of course!"

"what isn't?"

chengcheng stares again, and sighs again. "it's for kun-ge's birthday."

" _what_?"

"he's wanted to see you since you left!" chengcheng reasons. 

"i told him he could see my shows."

"he's been busy," chengcheng says softly, "he hasn't had a vacation in four years.

ziyi calls it lovesick."

"ziyi...?"

"oh, the ambassador from the water tribe. guy practically lives here now. there's this big conflict with the sea properties in the north and h—"

"i've heard."

"oh, okay." a long pause and a long moment, the silence broken by maids wheeling in a tray of dinner.

"oh!" chengcheng smiles, getting off of the bed. "here it is. 

eat up, ge. i'll see you in the morning, okay?" he heads for the door, looking at zhengting one last time,

"and _please_ don't try to escape. justin would kill me."

**Author's Note:**

> a collection of drabbles set in the same universe ! probably zhengchenkun & fire nation centric but we'll see. this is a loose storyline zone only! aka i have no idea what im doing


End file.
